Frankel, Murphy, Garcia chide Congress for leaving town

February 28, 2013|William E. Gibson

It’s time for Congress to stay on the job and resolve this darn sequester, three South Florida newcomers declared on Thursday.

Rather than run out of town for a long weekend, Congress should be working out a budget deal to prevent an across-the-board set of budget cuts that starts on Friday, said U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, Patrick Murphy of Jupiter and Joe Garcia of Miami.

“We want to roll up our sleeves, and everybody should roll up their sleeves and get to work,” said Frankel.

The Democratic freshmen acknowledged that the world won’t change much on Friday, or for the rest of this month, because of the budget cuts. But by next month, they said, the impact will filter down to the local level and throw thousands out of work.

Their press conference reflects attempts by Democrats to raise public alarms and force Republicans to make a budget deal to avert the sequester, which could include tax increases by removing deductions for the wealthy.

“It is not Armageddon. We are aware of that,” Murphy said. “But jobs will be lost.”

The message to the world, he said, is that “our government, our leadership, is dysfunctional right now. It is very frustrating to watch this happen.”